Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the MA63 Cabinet Committee reports are not classified as secrets under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.
KUCHING (Aug 13): The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Cabinet Committee reports are not secret documents, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
According to her, the MA63 Cabinet Committee reports are not classified as secrets under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.
“But the negotiations and talks that we have had under the committee are not to be revealed especially when the negotiations and talks are not completed.
“This is why we don’t express everything. It is not because the MA63 Cabinet Committee reports are secret documents,” she said during a virtual seminar streamed live on Facebook yesterday.
Sharifah Hasidah was responding to a participant who, during the question-and-answer session of the seminar, asked the assistant minister whether the MA63 Cabinet Committee reports were classified.
The virtual seminar, titled ‘Navigating the Impacts of The Malaysia Agreement 1963 on National Integrity’, was hosted by the Sarawak Unity Foundation (YPS).
Sharifah Hasidah pointed out that it would be very tedious if the government talked about everything that had been brought to the roundtable.
“The formation of the committee is a fact, and matters have been debated in Parliament, (meaning they are) not classified matters. So the committee reports are not official secrets under the OSA,” she said.